SPRING Movement & Mindfulness for Kids
I love spring! The longer days, the weather, the smell… all of it! If I could live somewhere where it was spring forever, I would in a heartbeat.
I also love this season because it’s so much easier to spend time outside. I kind of despise being hot and sweaty in the summertime, and bundled and freezing in the winter, so it takes much less convincing to get me out the door when it’s 60 degrees and cloudy 😂
And getting out the door is so important — for us grownups and for our kiddos. Research shows that playing outside:
helps children build confidence, as they’re often offered more opportunities to be in control of what they do and how they play
promotes creativity and imagination as kids interact with their surroundings
teaches responsibility, as they learn the importance of caring for our planet
gets kids moving — which we all know is necessary for our health and well-being
and reduces stress and fatigue
I love this article, if you’re interested in learning more: “Why Kids Need to Spend Time in Nature.”
If you’re already feeling inspired to head outdoors, you can download the free bingo game pictured above, just by clicking here 👉 Springtime Bingo Game
And if you’re an educator, yoga teacher, or parent looking for some movement & mindfulness inspo, keep reading!
Movement
Yoga Poses!
So many children’s yoga poses are connected to nature and animals, which makes it really easy to find some for a nice, springy flow!
Knees to Chest Pose: Imagine that you are a little egg. You can be whatever kind of egg you want to be! When it’s time to hatch, you can rock up and down on your spine… up and down… and then pop! Kick out your arms and legs like a little critter breaking out of its shell!
Flower Pose: If you could be any flower, what would you be? What color? What would you smell like? Parents can make a buzzy little bumble bee with their hands to tickle their little one 🐝
Downward Facing Dog Pose: Pretend to be a bright and beautiful rainbow!
Upward Facing Dog: Pretend to be a wiggly little caterpillar — I highly recommend Kira Willey’s song, “Caterpillar, Caterpillar” here, while you wiggle and scoot around, but beware… it will absolutely get stuck in your head, haha!
Chair Pose: If your flowing, move from caterpillar, back to rainbow. Then, jump your feet up to your hands — now you’re in a forward fold. Tap your fingers on the ground to make the sound of rain. Lift up into chair pose, and clap your hands to make thunder!
Star Pose: Stand with your arms and feet wide, and swing your arms side to side. Imagine you are the rain blowing and swirling around on a windy day. You can even rock onto one foot, and then the other for some balance! This is a great pose to end with, because you can gently slow kids down, as if the storm was calming, and guide them back through a forward fold, then down into savasana.
I’ve broken the spring theme down into a couple of different categories during my classes the last couple months, so I’ll share some songs and games for each.
Rainy Weather
We (myself and the kiddos in class!) enjoyed movin’ and groovin’ to “Rain Song,” by Kazoops, and, “Here Comes the Sun,” by Caspar Babypants. They are perfect for a little stormy weather freeze dance! When the music is playing, move yo body. When the music stops, do one of these 4 actions:
Sunshine: set your feet wide, pretend you have a piece of chalk in your hand, and draw a big circle for the sun!
Thunder: stand in chair pose, then jump and clap!
Tornado: spin!
Clouds: slowly and gently move and float like clouds in the sky (scarves are a nice addition here).
Eggs
I actually shared a mini lesson plan for an eggy yoga story time over on my socials — here’s the link, if you’d like to check it out 😊👉 Egg-celent Story Time!
It’s a little harder to find good songs about eggs (if you know some, let me know!), so I settled for songs about critters that hatch from eggs. “Goldfish” and “I Know a Chicken,” by The Laurie Berkner Band are always a hit, and I also love “Happy Hummingbird,” by Stephanie Leavell. “Happy Hummingbird” is easily turned into a fun color / movement activity for younger kiddos — you just need some colorful mats (or towels, blankets, scarves, etc.)!
Sing the verse, “happy, happy hummingbird, have you heard, have you heard, there’s a flower big and _______, and it’s waiting just for you!”
You supply the color, and kids fly to that mat!
Once there, finish the verse with, “We hear your wings hummmmmmmmm,” and everyone takes a deep breath and hums together. Then do it again, with a different color!
If you’re looking for more springtime fun, I’m really proud of the lesson plan that I put in the store this month. Everything in it comes directly from my own classes, which means it’s all been kid-tested and approved 👍
The plan includes even more games and activities, along with breathing exercises (and breath work cards that you can gift your students), affirmational posters and coloring sheets, a set of yoga cards, and a meditation script 🌈
This makes it easy-peasy to lead a class, and can definitely be used over and over again!
Click on the picture to go check it out!
Mindfulness
Spring is the perfect time to talk about growth. In both a physical and mental sense, kids are growing and learning new things all the time, which can be really exciting… and also overwhelming and stressful. Think about a time when you experienced a big life change, like having a baby or starting a new job, and remember how much energy and effort it took to learn all that you needed to know! Kids are doing that all the time, while surrounded by a noisy classroom of their peers.
We can help our students or children feel safe, calm, and grounded through breath work, meditation, and mindfulness.
Try a guided body scan. Have students get comfortable, and then slowly lead them through bringing their awareness to, and relaxing, the different parts of the body, moving from the feet to the head. Then, ask them to notice their whole body, comfortably resting. Remind them that they are safe and supported here in this space 💜
Practice a flower breath — students can imagine that they are smelling a flower, or you can provide them with a prop. I love offering a spritz of lavender or rose on a scarf or blanket. Take deep breaths in through the nose, and sigh them out through the mouth.
Finally, being outside can be deeply soothing to our nervous system. Take a mindful walk, putting away the ear buds and giving your attention to the space around you. Color with chalk together — we love drawing chalk obstacle courses! Lay in the grass and watch the clouds drift by. It doesn’t so much matter what you do, as that you do it with presence.
Music
Here is a springy playlist to enjoy!
Books
Rain by Linda Ashman
Tap Tap Boom Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle
Here are the Seeds by JaNay Brown Wood
Hurry! Hurry! by Eve Bunting
Peep and Egg: I’m Not Hatching by Laura Gehl
Split Splat by Amy Gibson
Ten Little Eggs: A Celebration of Family by Mary Hassinger **perfect for story time, and maybe my fav on this list!
Spring is Here by Will Hillenbrand
Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson
The Sheep Who Hatched an Egg by Gemma Merino
The Spring Book by Todd Parr
Let’s Go Puddling by Emma Perry
Rain by Cynthia Rylant
Hello, Puddle by Anita Sanchez
Mouse’s First Spring by Lauren Thompson
Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson
Seven Little Ducklings by Annette LeBlanc Cate
See you next month!
Leave a comment & let me know what you love about spring 💐
